


RAISING GOATS

by poemygod



Series: MY LOVE IS NOT FRAGILE [3]
Category: Captain America (Comics), Captain America (Movies), Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Captikate, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:07:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22132294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poemygod/pseuds/poemygod
Summary: Nothing is perfect, even if Wakanda is pretty damn close.
Relationships: Kate Bishop/Steve Rogers
Series: MY LOVE IS NOT FRAGILE [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1569421
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	RAISING GOATS

**Author's Note:**

> Another trash piece in the 'Love is not fragile' series

Wakanda was annoyingly beautiful. 

Not in a way that made her wax poetically about the bustling city and grassy plains, but in a way that made Kate feel guilty for missing home. The towering buildings would never be New York City, with her cheap bodega bagels and the smell of exhaust mixed with garbage that filled the air no matter the season. There was no beach for morning meditations like on the West coast, though Okoye had taken her to do yoga with baby goats. 

Which also meant that Kate was now the proud owner of a baby goat. 

It wasn’t that she meant to be unappreciative. T’Challa had taken a major risk in offering them asylum. Her jokes about the food being better than in prison had earned her a grimace from Steve and a deadpanned look from the Wakandan King. At least Shuri had laughed. That had to count for something. 

Watching the horizon, pulling apart a long piece of grass, she focused on the point of the skyline where it seemed like the mountains and the clouds blended together. The slightest flicker caught her attention. Nearly imperceptible to the blind eye, but Hawkeyes looked for those kind of things. Any moment, a ship would appear out of nowhere, breaking through the cloaking that protected the small country. 

Dusting red dirt off her legs, she stood to make her way back towards the city center, the bleat of her little goat making her smile as he followed. It was nice to have a constant companion and a little part of her believed that had been Okoye’s intentions, but the Dora Milaje leader would never admit to such sentiment. 

The walk wasn’t far, but it was a little longer with her frolicking friend, who was easily distracted by bugs and the need to hop from rock to rock. By the time they finally made it to the flight pad, the ship had already landed and its occupants had disembarked. Wrinkling her nose, Kate shuffled her way towards Shuri’s lab where the quirky Princess was sure to be working on something exciting. 

Lately, the debriefings from the little excursions that Steve and the others went on were taking longer and longer. She’d gone on a few, but one of them always stayed back for precautionary measures. It didn’t bother her to stay back as much anymore. Initially it had caused several fights between them; not wanting to be left behind. As the missions became more frequent, her want to be involved began to wane. 

What was the point? The powers at be had declared them criminals. 

Steve didn’t feel the same way she did. 

Kicking her legs and watching as Shuri messed around with a new weapon on her sand table, Kate eyed the door in a way that was clearly not subtle. 

**”What’s that saying about watching pots?”** The amusement in the Wakandan’s voice made her glare, flipping her off before thinking that one probably shouldn’t give the bird to a princess. As if on cue, Nat walked through the door, clicking her tongue disapprovingly. 

**”So rude, Hawkeye.”** She muttered as she bent to pet the goat-who-had-yet-to-be-named. They had all benefited from Okoye’s idea of an emotional support animal, even Sam, who pretended that it annoyed him. Before she could come up with a retort, the door slid open again, Steve, T’Challa, and Sam talking quietly as they came into the lab. 

Her eyes caught Steve’s, brow furrowing deeper at the slump of his shoulders. It wasn’t hard to read that things had not gone the way he wanted them to. Chewing at her lip, Kate settled onto the floor with Nat to play with Goat, smiling as Sam came over to join them. She couldn’t remember when they’d become a weird little family with a pet farm animal, but somehow it seemed right.   


\-----------------------

  


**”Are you ever gonna name it?”** The question caught her by surprise, lips quirking to the side curiously as she looked up at him. Moonlight filtered into the dimly lit quarters, the bluish tint from his tablet illuminating Steve’s face in a way that made him look ethereal. They’d been sitting in a comfortable silence; or at least she’d convinced herself that it was comfortable and not full of tension. Shrugging her shoulders, she looked down at the baby goat with his head in her lap, stroking her fingers between its little horns. 

**”I don’t know how to name livestock. I’ve just been calling him Goat, but that’s kind of lame. Probably should come up with something.”** Chewing at her lower lip, Kate glanced back up at him as he nodded without really even looking at her. A sigh fell off her lips and she carefully settled the goat onto the pillow beside her. Crawling towards the sofa and climbing up next to him, Steve lift a blonde brow, the only indicator that he was even aware of her presence. **”Stubbing up and not talking is my job, so spill.”**

He didn’t respond, eyes still focused on the screen in front of him until she groaned, yanking it from his hands. 

**”Hey!”** Steve barked out, sharp and angry, making her jump back in shock. It wasn’t like he’d never been cross with her, but this was different. The fury that had flashed over his features faded as he looked at her, slumping back against the couch in defeat. **”Sorry…”**

Setting the tablet aside without looking at it, Kate swallowed past the urge to snap back at him. Feelings had never been her strong point, but she was trying to do better, even if it meant being vulnerable once or twice a decade. Counting to ten silently as she picked at the side of her thumbnail, she crossed her legs underneath her before trying again. **”What happened?”**

**”Nothing.”** He started, deflating a little at the dead stare she gave him, his hands coming up to scrub at his face in frustration. **”Really. Nothing happened. We weren’t able to uncover any new information. The mission was a bust. I’m not any closer to figuring things out about what HYDRA did to Bucky and every mission we go on puts us all at risk. We’re fugitives. Fuck… this is all my fault.”** The words rushed out of him in a long exhaled breath, the weight of them making his entire body sag into the plush cushions. 

**”Steve, that’s no-“**

**”IT IS!”** His bellow echoed in the room as he snapped up off the couch, a scared bleat coming from where the goat had been sleeping. **”EVERYTHING I DID LED TO THIS AND I CAN’T FIX IT.”** The hair on the back of Kate’s neck stood on end, her eyes wide as she stared up at him. It wasn’t like Steve to lash out, the cracks in his indestructible exterior that had formed months ago starting to show through. 

**”I didn’t sign the accords. You and the others ended up in the Raft. Bucky’s in cryo again. The Avenger’s…”** Just as quick as the anger seemed to rise in him, defeat fell over him like a shadow. All his sins and doubts, the nightmares that had been gnawing at him laid bare before her. 

He was a hurricane of emotions, pacing in front of her with hands balled into tight fists. It was her job to be the one who exploded with emotion, overflowing with repressed feelings. Steve was a rock. Her solid foundation, steady and strong in the storm, keeping her grounded when she wanted to run. 

But even rocks could break; crumbling under the constant waves crashing down around them. 

Lost in a sea of his fears and hurt, Steve flinched at the touch of a soft hand to the back of his arm, whipping around to face her. Fingers trailing down to his wrist, she took a careful step closer to him, her chest rising and falling with steady breaths. His eyes were a tempest, guilt clouding them as he let calloused fingers lace with hers. The silence of the room settled over them again, her thumb moving across the back of his hand delicately. 

**”I’m so tired of hurting the people I care about.”** Voice breaking shakily, his hand tightened around hers, leaning down to rest his forehead against hers. She doesn’t speak; letting him take the comfort he needed in their closeness. Minutes passed, the two of them standing together in the stillness of the dim room. **”I don’t know who I am anymore.”**

**”None of what happened changes who you are.”** There’s a flicker of doubt in his gaze and she tipped her head back to get a better look at him. Her heart shattered at the brokenness painted in his features, free hand cupping his bearded jaw. **”You’re more than the shield, Steve.”**

**"What's the world without Captain America, Kate?"** He looked down at her like he was lost, bright eyes searching hers for any semblance of hope she could offer him. 

**"Still the same shitty place. Let it burn.”** Her words were clearly not what he expected; a scoffed huff escaping him as he buried his face into her hand. **”I can live in a world without Captain America, but not without Steve Rogers. That doesn't exist for me."**

**”What if…”** His words faltered, catching in his throat like the scratch of a record and he swallowed hard before trying again. **”You’re not safe with me.”**

**”What did you tell me once… My love is not fragile?”** Kate stepped in closer to him, letting his arms envelop her into his chest, her face tucking into the crook of his neck perfectly. **”You can go off and be Mr. Nomad, chasing down these leads, but you’ve got to let the guilt go. It will eat you from the inside out. As for me not being safe,”** her lips turned up into a small smile, pressing a kiss to the steady hum of his pulse point. **“I go where you go. Together or not at all.”** His arms tightened around her, nose burying into dark hair as she felt some of the tension ease out of his shoulders. 

**”Together or not at all.”**


End file.
